BSI and Poseidon to collaborate on global, multi-modal Good Distribution Practice (GDP) compliance program for medicines and vaccines

BSI, the business improvement and standards company, today announces a collaborative partnership with Poseidon, the independent pharmaceutical logistics network, with the objective of bringing greater quality, and certainty to the global distribution of medicines and vaccines.

In the new virus age, the need for rigorous compliance with regulations and strict adherence to best-practice surrounding the quality, safe, and efficient distribution of medicines and vaccines worldwide has never been greater. BSI and Poseidon will bring their joint resources and expertise together to develop and execute a Multi-modal Compliance and Standards (MMCS) program to help promote, monitor and assess adherence to the GDP (Good Distribution Practice) regulations that underpin global pharmaceutical logistics. The development of standards and the furtherance of assessment and training will form part of the program scope.

"The respective strengths of BSI and Poseidon will combine to produce a collaborative, industry-wide GDP compliance capability that is designed to bring best practice to this industry", explains Courtney Soulsby, Sector Development Director, Healthcare at BSI. "BSI, as a global business improvement and standards company and a Royal Charter organization, seeks to facilitate and enhance pharmaceutical industry quality distribution practices. The new program will provide a wide range of standards guidance, support and assessment covering all aspects of GDP compliance including quality assurance, risk-management, cold-chain best-practice, training, and standards."

The MMCS program is relevant to pharmaceutical shippers and their end-to-end distribution partners. It will interpret the prevailing local and international GDP regulations and guidelines for each of the main long-haul transport modes and provide a full range of GDP support, standard development, assessment and training services.

Alan Kennedy, Executive Director at Poseidon stresses that much of the strength and legitimacy of the new program stems not only from Poseidon’s track-record, material resources and intellectual assets of its core stakeholders but also to their impartial status. "The strict impartiality and independence of both BSI and Poseidon is absolutely fundamental to the objectivity of the program and in securing the support and patronage of shippers, regulators and the rest of the stakeholders in the value chain," he affirms.

The MMCS GDP initiative, the first of its type, promises to play a pivotal role in the pharmaceutical industry's drive for greater supply chain standardization, resilience and regulatory conformance. According to Angus Metcalfe, BSI’s Managing Director, Global Healthcare: "The entire pharma-logistics industry stands to gain from this joined-up initiative which will reduce compliance costs, extract more value from logistics and lead to greater process and technical harmonization. It has the potential to be a 'game-changer' for raising standards".

ENDS

About BSI

BSI is the business improvement and standards company that enables organizations to turn standards of best practice into habits of excellence, ‘inspiring trust for a more resilient world’. For over a century BSI has driven best practice in organizations around the world. Working with over 77,500 clients across 195 countries, it is a truly global business with skills and experience across all sectors including automotive, aerospace, built environment, food and retail and healthcare. Through its expertise in Standards and Knowledge, Assurance Services, Regulatory Services and Consulting Services, BSI helps clients to improve their performance, grow sustainably, manage risk and ultimately become more resilient.

To learn more, please visit: www.bsigroup.com 

About POSEIDON

The Poseidon program is an industry reform initiative conceived to improve the conveyance of pharmaceutical products by ocean and other modes of transport. This is being achieved through the application of contemporary supply chain best-practice and structured, multi-party collaboration. The strength of the Poseidon program rests in the collective energy and resource of its end-to-end supply chain structure built around managed strategic partnerships, commercial alignment and a ‘one-team’ culture. The Poseidon network is open to all shippers of pharmaceutical finished products and ingredients. To learn more, please visit: www.poseidon.team

About GDP*

Good distribution practice (GDP) describes the minimum standards that a wholesale distributor must meet to ensure that the quality and integrity of medicines is maintained throughout the supply chain.

Compliance with GDP ensures that:

• medicines in the supply chain are authorised in accordance with European Union (EU) legislation;
• medicines are stored in the right conditions at all times, including during transportation;
• contamination by or of other products is avoided;
• an adequate turnover of stored medicines takes place;
• the right products reach the right addressee within a satisfactory time period.

*European Medicines Agency

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